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I am in the market for a new PC. I am looking at a 9800Pro 256MB card, 9600XT 128, and the 5700Ultra 128 not sure if there is a 256 meg 5700? Anyway I would like to know do all these cards as of right now have ARB_fragment_program and GLSlang support? If I get this card next week I want to code GLSlang that day and/or use fragment programs. Can anyone give anyother thoughts on the listed cards on which one would be the best to pickup? Thanks

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quote:Original post by GamerSg I think anything above GF3 should support GLSLANG since it compiles it down to assembly.

That''s not true. GF3 and up, and Radeon 8500 and up, support VERTEX program assembly, but GLSlang requires FRAGMENT program assembly, which you get with any GeForce FX card, and with any Radeon 9500 and up.

Of the cards suggested, the 5700 is definitely going to be the slowest. The 9800 Pro 256 seems like the best value for the money -- the 256 MB will absolutely help on titles coming out the next year, and will absolutely help when you do your own fragment programs with floating point textures and render targets.

An alternative would be the new GeForce 6800 non-Ultra, which is a bit cheaper (and smaller!) than the Ultra, but which still needs a new power supply in your computer... That gives you the most programmable power (the longest shaders, etc) on the market today.

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quote:Original post by GamerSg Just wondering then, how is it that CG and HLSL can work on GF3 cards?

CG and HLSL separate the "pixel shader" from the "vertex shader" and they allow you to compile ps_1_1 model "vertex shaders" while using fixed function functionality for the fragment processing. GLSlang doesn''t allow you to de-couple them like that; it requires a higher base level of functionality.